Kukla, Fran, and Ollie

St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture, Jan 29, 2002 by Ron Goulart

Outside of Howdy Doody and the Muppets, Kukla and Ollie were probably the most popular and successful puppets ever to appear on television. Unlike Jim Henson's characters, however, they haven't endured or survived beyond the death of their creator. Burr Tillstrom (1917-1985) first brought his quietly funny and eccentric hand puppets to TV in the autumn of 1947. Accompanied by a personable lady named Fran Allison, the mild-mannered, yet egocentric dragon named Oliver and the enthusiastically nice bald little fellow named Kukla (Russian for doll) made their debut on a show originally titled Junior Jamboree on a Chicago station. The title became Kukla, Fran, and Ollie early in 1949. As the coaxial cable spread across the country, so did the half-hour show. By 1951 the popular program was seen nationally at 7 p.m. weeknights. Initially intended for kids, the Kuklapolitans eventually attracted a large and enthusiastic audience of teenagers and adults as well.

For most of its run from 1949 onward, the show was done live and unscripted from the Merchandise Mart studios of NBC's Chicago station WNBQ. The set was simple, consisting of a sort of portable Punch & Judy theater. Allison stood in front of it, her head on a level with the tiny proscenium, and chatted with Ollie, the falsetto-voiced Kukla, and the other regulars in the puppet cast. These included Fletcher Rabbit, Cecil Bill, Beulah Witch (named after Beulah Zachary, the show's producer) and Madame Ooglepuss. Music was provided by pianist Jack Fascianato. Tillstrom did all the voices and manipulated all the puppets. Kukla, Fran, and Ollie was casual and informal, the humor quiet and personal. It fit in with the aims and attitudes of some of the other early shows of what's been called the Chicago School--such as Garroway At Large and Stud's Place--in the days when television was very much a unique medium and quite a bit more relaxed than it later became. Now and then, Tillstrom and company would attempt something more ambitious, staging miniature musicals and the like, but for the most part the show concentrated on the conversations between Fran Allison and the various facets of Burr Tillstrom. Watching the show regularly had the effect of leading viewers to believe that the puppets were real. Even Allison was said to have operated under that illusion while she was on stage with them.

Tillstrom became interested in puppetry while still in his early teens. Kukla was one of his earliest puppets; Oliver J. Dragon and the others came later. After performing everywhere from nightclubs to department stores, he moved early into television. When the Junior Jamboree got underway, he added Allison to the mix. She had been active in Chicago radio for several years, singing in a trio, doing comedy with the offbeat Ransom Sherman, and playing the popular Aunt Fanny on the Breakfast Club show every weekday morning.

Kukla, Fran, and Ollie remained successful for roughly a decade. It was reported in 1950 that Tillstrom had signed a million-dollar, five-year contract. Despite the broadcast success, the show never managed to inspire much in the way of merchandising. In later years new episodes were done for syndication and Tillstrom produced an occasional special. Kukla, Ollie and the rest died with him in 1985; Fran Allison died in 1989.